Protest at Palo Alto Council Over Profiling
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Kevin Fagan, San Francisco Chronicle, November 11, 2008
Dozens of angry citizens packed the Palo Alto City Council chambers Monday night decrying what they believe is racial profiling by the city’s police force, with some calling for the embattled police chief to step down or be fired.
The demand follows remarks Oct. 30 by Palo Alto Police Chief Lynne Johnson, in which she told a crowd at a community meeting that she had directed her officers to question African American people in areas where there had been a spike in street robberies. The meeting was convened to discuss what the Police Department was doing to solve the crimes. Suspects in most of the robberies were black.
The chief said she told her officers that if “they see an African American, you know, in a congenial way we want them to find out who they are.”
She also told them to keep an eye out for black people with do-rags because one of the robbers wore one.
Her remarks kicked up a political dust storm and quickly drew condemnation from Palo Alto’s mayor and city manager, the NAACP and others. Johnson has apologized and said her remarks were misconstrued and that the department does not condone racial profiling.
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Palo Alto resident Betty Ann Bryant, who is black, said her son was pulled over by officers because the light above his license plate on his car was out. She said he was stopped because of his race.
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Email Kevin Fagan at kfagan@sfchronicle.com.
(Posted on November 11, 2008)
Comments
The demand follows remarks Oct. 30 by Palo Alto Police Chief Lynne Johnson, in which she told a crowd at a community meeting that she had directed her officers to question African American people in areas where there had been a spike in street robberies.
Maybe it is because black suspects are committing these robberies. Even this article admits it, but the writer of the article doesn’t seem to make the link between the race of suspects and the necessity of racial profiling.
Posted by Question Diversity at 6:13 PM on November 11
“Protest at Palo Alto Council Over Profiling.”
I’m all for letting them have what they want and advertising it thoroughly and loudly, so that when they go down into the dark abyss of crime, they can be repeatedly reminded it was their idea to handcuff the police to begin with.
If they think too many of their tribesmen were in jail, I’d let them out with the condition that they stay within the confines of their neighborhoods.
Later I’d build a wall around it and announce via helicopter over a very loud PA system that they got what they want, and I was happy for them.
Posted by q at 6:58 PM on November 11
I guess the night I was pulled over on my way home from work by 7 N.Y.C. police cars because “I matched the description of the suspect” was not racial profiling. (Some white guy shot someone and got away in a small white foreign car.) Why can’t ‘those people’ figure this out and stop protecting the criminal element among them?
Posted by gemalo at 7:36 PM on November 11
Palo Alto resident Betty Ann Bryant, who is black, said her son was pulled over by officers because the light above his license plate on his car was out. She said he was stopped because of his race.
I like this quote. It shows the pure irrationality that drives these people.
Next we’ll be seeing statements like this: “He was put in jail because he committed five murders. But some people think it was because of his race.”
Posted by Reader-1 at 8:21 PM on November 11
Palo Alto Police Chief Lynne Johnson takes one for the diversity team…
Posted by at 9:16 PM on November 11
“Dozens of angry citizens packed the Palo Alto City Council chambers Monday night decrying what they believe is racial profiling by the city’s police force, with some calling for the embattled police chief to step down or be fired.”
It’s a pity these people do not put some of this effort into behaving properly, obeying the laws of a civilized society, and holding steady employment.
They obviously missed the last 40+ years of the FBI’s annual uniform crime report, which highlights the grossly disproportional burden that Blacks and Hispanics place on the nation with their crime and inability to behave properly and control themselves.
Every metric in existence tells the same story. From crime, to sexual diseases, to illegitimate births, to welfare abuse, the facts about undesirables and their inability to control themselves and behave responsibily is well documented. One need look no further than Africa, Harlem, Detroit, or Mexico City to witness what happens when undesirables exist at critical mass.
Posted by at 10:05 PM on November 11
Palo Alto resident Betty Ann Bryant, who is black, said her son was pulled over by officers because the light above his license plate on his car was out.
She said he was stopped because of his race.
Um so which was it betty?
Posted by at 12:32 AM on November 12
Couple years ago a black University of Arizona professor was stopped at 1 AM and questioned by police, he turned it into a cause celebre and claimed profiling, got the student body behind him in protest. There was an armed robbery, black suspect, that had just occured a few blocks away and the cops were stopping black males that fit the description. At one in the morning in the downtown area.
Profiling? Sure, why not. The “professor” did not cooperate and made an issue out of it, instead of answering the officer’s questions he got snippy with them and cried racism. he should have been fired for being so stupid.
Posted by Cliff Yablonski at 1:47 AM on November 12
Political correctness is going to get a lot of people killed and let a lot of criminals go free.
Posted by at 8:07 AM on November 12
Hell, YES! The good Black citizens of Palo Alto are 100% correct. Common sense dictates that if the perp(s) are Black, the police need to stop and question EVERY White, Asian or Hispanic… Given the possibility the victim erred on his/her description.
HOW FAR is this absolute insanity over perceived racail profile going to be allowed to go? Whites ALSO have been stopped for lights being out on their vehicles. Betty Ann Bryant is a textbook example of WHY so many of us view Blacks with utter contempt!
Posted by Fed Up at 8:09 AM on November 12
What do policemen think of this? How do they stand it? It is infuriating to read of, much less have one’s critical duty actually affected by.
Posted by Sunder at 3:17 PM on November 12
Profiling is based on probabilties. With limited manpower and limitless suspects, there is no other rational way to conduct police work.
If the local authorities acquiesce to self-deluded whiners yelling racism and waste their time otherwise, the geneal effectiveness of law enforcement declines and public safety is endangered.
One truly wonders why even the leftist morons polluting politics and the national media won’t finally achieve this mental two-step - ideological retardation, I suppose.
Posted by Gary at 3:34 PM on November 12
Palo Alto is right next to east Palo Alto. East Palo Alto was developed as a place where the black maids and gardeners of the rich whites in Palo Alto could live in small houses which they owned.
But then the great society decided to replace the small homes with housing projects and invite numerous San Francisco and Oakland blacks to live in them.
The thugs probably came from East Palo Alto which has been the San Mateo County version of Oakland or Detroit for the last 40 years.
Posted by at 3:57 PM on November 12
Perhaps white people need to file a hate crime against blacks for the disproportinate amount of black on white interacial violence. Perhaps we need to start adding hate crime penalties when blacks target whites for crime.
Posted by hugo at 3:57 PM on November 12
“Palo Alto resident Betty Ann Bryant, who is black, said her son was pulled over by officers because the light above his license plate on his car was out. She said he was stopped because of his race”
Of course it was his race Betty!! After all, Blacks should be allowed to drive without license plates, speed, steal and do whatever and any stopping them is racism. I’m White and I’ve been stopped for having a headlight out as well as for speeding. But that doesn’t count, I’m White so I should be expected to obey the law.
Posted by at 8:18 AM on November 13